New York-based production studio Sibling Rivalry has bolstered its roster with the appointment of veteran designer/director Lauren Hartstone to the role of creative director.

With well over a decade’s worth of experience working across mediums from live-action and commercials to branding, the multifaceted Hartstone has found an ideal venue to leverage her talents at Sibling Rivalry. “[Sibling co-founders] Mikon Van Gastel and Joe Wright are such an incredible balance– their work is consistently beautiful, refined, and smart,” she says. “The mix of Sibling Rivalry’s experiential, brand and commercial work is also particularly appealing to me. Having spent the past year freelancing with them, I have found the studio to be a genuinely fun and inspiring place to work.”

As newly minted creative director, Hartstone will not only assemble the teams and take the lead on projects from ideation through delivery, but articulate concepts, bring them to life visually and work daily with clients through pitching, presenting and collaborating. According to the Sibling CD, working as both a director and designer has proven beneficial and informative in her new position. “For me, being a designer and director is intertwined,” Harstone adds. “The range of projects– graphic, filmic, illustrative, is definitely what keeps me engaged and I let one influence the next. It makes me a pretty hands on creative director. I don’t generate ideas in a void and I like working it out with people. I design and pull references at the start of every job, no matter what the medium or platform, because for me that’s a big part of my process.”

During her extensive career behind the camera, leading creative and in design, Hartstone has honed her craft at the likes of renowned studios including Imaginary Forces, Loyalkaspar and Gretel. Along the way, the creative leader has collaborated with top-tier brands such as Google, HBO, Spike TV, Pepsi and Smirnoff, rebranded African American female-focused network Centric, earned Emmy nominations for her main title designs for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and The Pacific and has spoken at events like OFFF Barcelona. With her storied background and proven versatility, Hartstone is well-suited to serve as Sibling Rivalry’s new creative director according to studio Partner Maggie Meade. “Lauren comes to us with such a depth of creative talent and taste level that she will be a true leader to help push the future of Sibling,” the exec says. “Plus, who doesn’t want a strong female to help mentor other women in the design and film industry?”

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About Sibling Rivalry:

Sibling Rivalry creates stories with a distinct design sensibility. Our multidisciplinary team provides production solutions for live action commercial, digital, post production, experiential, as well as design and branding. We produce and create content across all media for a broad spectrum of clients, agencies and brands. Our methodology is driven by collaboration. We are all Siblings.